Video: 'Fast Money' Co-Host Tim Seymour Shares Tips To Invest In Marijuana Stocks, ETFs

A version of this post was originally published on The Fresh Toast.

You’ve probably read this a thousand times this year already: cannabis is going mainstream by the minute.

In the past couple of months, we’ve seen Jim Cramer weigh in on pot stocks on "Mad Money," witnessed the debut of a few cannabis companies like Aphria Inc APHA and Aurora Cannabis Inc ACB on major stock exchanges like the NYSE, and several multi-million dollar acquisitions close, learned that a heir to Anheuser-Busch Inbev BUD is debuting his own weed brand, and even had a former MTV executive take over the CEO role at a cannabis-focused media company.

Taking cannabis yet another step closer to the mainstream, Tim Seymour, founder and Chief Investment Officer of Seymour Asset Management, best known as the co-host of CNBC’s "Fast Money," led a marijuana-focused investment panel at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference in Toronto, Canada.

Emerging Markets

Off camera, Seymour explained the reason for him to be hosting a panel at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference. Tim is an asset manager who’s been focused on emerging markets for two decades. As such, he was drawn to the marijuana industry a few years ago due to the “tremendous growth” it offers.

“This is a new asset class, this is what gets me excited,” he told The Fresh Toast.

Ultimately, investing in emerging markets, especially those in their earlier stages, “is about understanding your macro… and understanding the tailwinds from those macro trends,” he explained.

A Word Of Caution

According to Viridian Capital Advisors’ Cannabis Deal Tracker, more than $12.4 billion have been invested into cannabis companies in 2018. In this context of huge money flows, Seymour recommended investors to be cautious.

His top piece of advice for investors was do your work: “Get as much insight into the balance sheets and the operations of the company [as you can]… But ultimately, right now, especially in early-stage companies, it’s truly all about the management team.”

The other important thing, he added, is understanding how cannabis stocks trade, as many trade by appointment or have very little liquidity.